This disclosure relates to movable electric machinery having a trailing cable connected to a source of power.
Current shuttle cars include a trailing cable reel or drum driven by an electric motor or hydraulic motor, controlled by an electronic controller.
An RFD device is currently used as a mobile tag with a stationary transmitter/receiver. One of the common uses of RFID technology is collecting tolls on highways or bridges. A transmitter/reader located at a toll booth detects an approaching vehicle that has a RFID tag. The “tag” is an antenna and an electronic chip. When the tag comes within range of the transmitter, it returns a signal identifying itself. If the transmitter/reader recognizes it as a valid account, it collects the toll electronically and allows the vehicle to pass.
The trailing cable of a shuttle car is a consumable item and constitutes a major portion of the total cost of ownership of the machine. The trailing cable can be damaged in several ways, one of which is by subjecting it to high levels of tensile stress as the shuttle car travels past the fixed trailing cable tie-off point. The high stress levels are caused by the trailing cable having to reverse the direction of the fully laden and thus very heavy cable reel drum over a very short period of time as the shuttle car passes the fixed tie-off or anchor point. More specifically, the trailing cable length is short as the shuttle car nears the tie-off point, but as it passes and the cable again needs to be let out, the cable drum needs to reverse direction. If the push and pull on the cable drum is handled only by the cable, substantial stress on the cable is the result.